Student Leaders

Developing agency is an important part of building a strong school community. At Coromandel Valley Primary School, we aim to provide as many opportunities as possible for students to have voice, choice and ownership in their learning.

Further to this, we aim to build strong leaders who actively contribute to their school community. To support this, we have a team of Year 6 Student Leaders who work collaboratively to develop student initiatives within the school. Furthermore, all classes nominate student representatives to attend regular Student Representative Council (SRC) meetings, to plan activities and enable student voice.

Year 6 Student Leaders

Year 6 student leaders are selected at the beginning of each school year, through an application process. Student Leader groups may vary from year to year, depending on the availability of staff to support this initiative. Past groups have included Sports, Literacy, ICT, Environmental and Healthy Living Leaders. Student Leaders meet regularly, with the support of a staff member, to plan and implement a range of school and community initiatives.

Early in the new year, students are informed of possible Student Leader groups. Students then complete an application, indicating which group they would like to lead and the skills that they would bring to it. Applications are reviewed by a panel, which may comprise of a member of leadership, a staff member, and a small group of Year 5 students. Student Leaders are then nominated by the panel.

The Student Leaders program is optional, and only open to Year 6 students. Considerable thought is put into ensuring that groups are inclusive and incorporate as many students as possible. Where students are not nominated to be a student leader, opportunities to participate in other leadership initiatives (such as involvement in the Dance Night play) are considered.

SRC

SRC Meetings are attended by representatives from each Reception – Year 6 class. Nomination processes are overseen by classroom teachers; teachers may choose to rotate their SRC Representatives at the start of Semester 2, to enable more students to participate.

SRC Meetings are run by the Year 6 Student Executive and are facilitated by a staff member. During meetings, students discuss a range of issues that are important to them. Discussions about how to best enact decisions are made and the SRC Executive supports the group to take any appropriate actions. Typically, casual clothes days, and associated fundraisers, are an initiative of the SRC. 

Sports Day Captains

Sports Day usually takes place towards the end of Term 1. To facilitate the setup and running of the day, Sports Day Captains are selected to represent each of the four Sports Day teams – Wallabies, Kookaburras, Brolgas and Wombats.

Sports Day Captainship is open to Year 6 students only. Students who are interested in becoming a Sports Day Captain are required to present a short speech to the students in their team. Students from Years 3 – 6 then vote for their chosen captains. This process is run independent of the Year 6 Student Leader program, which means that a student who is nominated to be a Student Leader, may also be a Sports Day Captain.

Crossing Monitors

At the beginning of the new school year, all students in Year 6, and a small selection of students in Year 5, participate in Crossing Monitor Training, which is run by SAPOL. A permission note is then sent home to families, to permit a student to become a Crossing Monitor. Once students are trained and written consent has been provided, they are placed on a roster to undertake Crossing Monitor duties.

Crossing Monitor duties run for one school week, before and after school. Students work in teams of three, under the direct supervision of a teacher, to support members of the school community to safely cross Main Road. Where a student rostered on for Crossing Duty is unable to attend, due to a planned absence, they are asked to find another student to ‘fill in’ for them. On days when Year 6 classes may be attending an excursion or school event, that prevents them from completing the duties, the trained Year 5 students will be called upon to do the duty.

Year 5/6 Monitors

Other responsibilities, which support the smooth running of the school, are shared between the Year 5 and 6 students. These roles help to build a range of life skills, whilst developing a culture of shared ownership. Responsibilities include:

• Office Monitors – support the front office staff during lunchtimes. Jobs include collecting the mail, answering the phone and assisting visitors to sign in.
• Canteen Monitors – support the canteen manager during break times. Jobs include serving other students, taking payment and calculating change.
• Paper & Card Monitors – support class waste management by collecting the paper and card bins, once a week, and emptying them into the appropriate bin.
• Sports Shed Monitors – oversee the borrowing system for school sports equipment, which can be borrowed by students during lunch times.